1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to quilt construction and, more particularly, to devices which aid in quilt design and construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Making quilts from small patches of fabric of different colors and prints, arranged to create pictures or patterns, is well known. In the early days of quilting, the pieces of fabric were cut by hand using scissors, and sewn together by hand using needle and thread. In recent times, most quilting is done using sewing machines and the cutting and joining of the fabric pieces has been simplified somewhat using various templates, rotary cutters, cutting mats, etc.
The quilt design that appears on the top layer of a quilt is generally produced in one of three ways. The quilt top may be made of a single fabric and quilting stitches form the design. More commonly, the top is appliqued, wherein pieces are cut from various cloths and stitched onto a background fabric, making a picture or pattern. The quilt design may also be produced in a process called patchwork, wherein units of cloth are sewn together edge to edge to form a fabric with geometric patterns. Quilt designs are often intricate and exact. A single quilt frequently involves multiple fabric colors and prints and requires hundreds of patches of cloth.
Quilt makers, whether they are working with a traditional design or creating their own design, generally prepare design plans, or mock-up blocks, to see how individual fabrics work as patches in relation to each other. The quilt maker creates mock-up blocks of patches of the basic unit of the quilt construction, usually a square, using samples of fabrics in various colors and prints. The mock-up blocks may be temporarily attached, using pins or adhesive spray, to a fabric-covered board. Once attached to the fabric-covered board, the quilt maker may want to temporarily hang the board on a vertical surface so that the proposed quilt design may be viewed from a distance. The quilt maker may also want to transport the board with the proposed quilt design attached thereto to a quilting class for others to review.
Using a fabric-covered board for temporarily displaying mock-up blocks is unsatisfactory for several reasons. First, the act of mechanically attaching the mock-up blocks to the board makes it more difficult to rearrange the mock-up blocks. Second, pins and tacks may interfere with the appearance of the design. Third, boards are not well suited for storing or transporting proposed quilt designs. Fourth, hardware, such as hooks, is required to temporarily attach the board to a suitable wall or door surface and this may be undesirable to the homeowner. Lastly, the mock-up blocks may fall or move on the board when the board is moved or transported to a new location.
What is needed is a quilt design holding device that can be used on either a horizontal or vertical rigid support surface that temporarily and securely holds a plurality of mock-up blocks for viewing without the use of pins or adhesives, that does not require modification or the use of brackets, hooks, or pins to attach the device to the support surface, and that may be folded into a compact configuration for storage or easy transport and then unfolded so that the mock-up blocks maintain their original positions on the device.